


Sunshine Tidings

by ReleasingTheKrakenIsMyFetish



Series: Ree [29]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Arguing, Cuddling & Snuggling, Detectives, Drama & Romance, Drug Use, F/M, Fanfiction, Friendship, Gentle Kissing, Long Shot, Love, Multi, Recreational Drug Use, Safehouses, To Be Continued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 03:37:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12879369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReleasingTheKrakenIsMyFetish/pseuds/ReleasingTheKrakenIsMyFetish
Summary: Ree, Hancock & Nick finally make it to Sunshine Tidings, but first they'll have to drop off Thomas at the safehouse. Things are running a bit too smoothly, don't you think? 2nd Long shot of Ree & Hancock (And Valentine).





	Sunshine Tidings

”There's the Safehouse”, Nick pointed at a normal-looking cottage. Just behind it we saw the edge of the Sunshine Tidings settlement. From where we were standing I could already hear the people there, working and occasionally shouting to another.

”How can you know that's it?” I was puzzled – the cottage was just an ordinary cottage with no visible markings or anything that could've distinguished it from others.

”The Railroad uses special signs to communicate and leave messages. Just a few hundred feet back was one, painted on a tree and indicating a nearby safehouse. There should be an agent waiting for Thomas, too. Come on.”

”The Railroad still doesn't really put their locations on public maps”, Hancock explained to me as we got closer to the cabin. ”The institute might be blown into bits, but there's still many individuals and parties who want The Railroad go down.”

I just nodded. It made me both sad and sickened when I thought about the escaped synths and what the Institute had done. But even though the Institute was destroyed their creations and ideology still lived, as did the hate between humans and synths.

Thomas was walking on my other side. The two or three hours that it took us to travel here he had showed genuine interest in me and had started asking questions. Who was I? Where was I from? How did I became to travel with Nick and John? First I tried to evade the questions and at one point even Hancock had growled at him, after which he apologised and looked so taken aback that I started feeling bad for him.

Even though I knew that Nick had some concerns over Thomas, I really didn't sense anything wrong with him, or the way he acted or talked. He seemed truly devastated by the death of the agent and was unsure of his future. I could relate to the latter so well. So, we talked a lot. I even told him that I was a ”vaultie” and a cryogenically preserved relic, because on these days I didn't see the point of keeping that secret. This made him gape at me for a while, but then he just winked and noted that I looked very pretty for a 200-year-old. Of course, this notion made Hancock snarled at him again. That caused me having to explain my relationship with a ghoul, which made Thomas gape at me once more – but he didn't make any comments, which I appreciated. It might have set Hancock completely off and at him.

When we drew nearer the cabin, someone stepped out and watched us come closer. He was a forty-ish looking man, who's grey hair made him probably look older than he really was. He casually held his arm on a pistol that was hanging from his belt.

”You don't look like raiders”, he said when we reached something that he clearly considered a safe distance. ”What can I do for you? If you're looking for Sunshine Tidings, it's just over there.” 

He jerked his head in the right direction, but kept a keen eye on us. Thomas took a careful step closer with his arms spread out.

”I'm the package you're waiting for. I'm Thomas”, he announced and the man on the porch frowned.

”I don't know any of you”, his voice was reserved.

”Please. Where's your Geiger counter?” Thomas tried, and that made the man blink.

”...Mine's in the shop”, he finally answered. ”But if you're the package, then where's...”

”Dead”, Thomas said and dropped his hands. ”I'm so sorry. He died while fighting a Deathclaw.”

The information made the man took a half of a step back. It was clear that the news had shocked him, but either he was a good actor or he recovered from it in just a moment.

”Then you're...” he looked at us, but Nick shook his head.

”I'm not actively with you, but always helped if I could. My name is Nick. Nick Valentine.”

”Valentine? Oh, but I _do_ know you”, a spark of recognition flashed in the man's eyes. ”You were there when we were tracking down those two Institute agents. I was with the group that was waiting at the Bunker Hill. I saw you back there talking with Dez. I'm Walker.”

”Yeah, that rings a bell”, Nick nodded and glanced at Thomas.

”Well, ain't this a fine day for you. You'll get to start anew.”

Thomas nodded and smiled hopefully.

”Come on in, Thomas. I'll have to get your report on what happened to Memphis and get the word down to HQ, before we can start planning your future”, Walker stepped aside to let Thomas inside.

Thomas shook our hands (Hancock just kept his hands crossed and glared at him) and we parted, him vanishing inside the cabin with Walker and us continuing on to Sunshine Tidings.

Soon we were standing on the edge of a settlement, which mainly consisted of several scattered cabins and two sheds. One of the shed, closest to us, seemed to serve as a mess hall with three picnic tables inside. It looked welcoming with its large doors wide open. There was a delicious smell coming from there, too.

After confirming that we weren't a threat, the guardians on the watch towers let us pass inside. The settlement was protected by them, plus multiple turrets. It was very impressing how well they had taken care of the security here. They even had big fields for growing mutfruit, razorgrain and tatos. People passing us gave us wary looks, but on average they looked healthy and happy. I decided that Sunshine Tidings was by far the nicest-looking settlement I had seen.

”I'll have to see who's in charge here”, Nick looked around while dangling an unlit cigarette on his lips. ”Someone that knows everyone coming or going. You should probably see if they have any place we can stay at least for the night.”

Nick headed at the mess hall and we stopped one of the settlers.

”Excuse me”, I smiled at an elderly woman who was carrying a bag. She stopped, but avoided looking at Hancock. I ignored that and continued.

”Can you tell us if there's a room, or perhaps a cabin we could rent for a day or two?”

The woman looked at my clothes and my bag, from which the rifle was hanging.

”You can ask from Ollie”, she finally croaked. ”He's back there sowing seeds, a big fellow. Can't miss him.”

We indeed found Ollie, a broad man who must've been almost seven feet tall. But as his size was intimidating, his nature was of sheep's. He gladly told us he owned a cabin he was renting for passing by travellers, and after paying him the caps he wanted for it he left the field to let us in.

The cabin was one of the buildings on the higher level, so we got a nice view of the settlement. Ollie gave us the key and left back to work. I looked around the cabin – it was nothing more than one, medium-sized room with four beds and a wash bin. There was a small, wobbly table beside one window and two wooden chairs.

”Finally here”, Hancock let out a breath and slumped down a chair as I dropped my backpack on one of the beds and massaged my achy shoulders.

”It's much more... peaceful and nicer here than I expected”, I looked outside where the sun was slowly starting to set and colored everything with deep, almost burning orange.

”Yeah. Not every place can be such a never-ending party like Goodneighbor”, Hancock grinned. ”Oh man. Speaking of which...”

He fished out a Jet canister from his pocket and offered it to me first.

”You go ahead, I think I want to steer clear for a while. After the whole Day Tripper episode”, I smiled and watched as Hancock inhaled from the canister, making a slow, satisfying wheeze.

”Ahh, shit. That's more like it”, he lazily let the fumes escape from his mouth into the air, with his shoulders relaxing and eyes half-closed.

I walked behind him and when I took off his hat, he tilted his head back and watched my upside down face with a sloped smile. After setting the hat beside him on the table I took his face between my hands and gave him a unhurried kiss, still standing behind him. Some of the Jet might have gotten inside me from his opened mouth, but it was so little that it probably wouldn't have any notable effect.

”I was really worried back there when you fought the mutants”, I whispered and let my other hand caress his rough cheek.

”Oh, I've killed many of them”, he murmured and closed his eyes, slightly moving his head so that he was almost rubbing his face against my palm. ”They're slow and clumsy. You just gotta be quick and make sure you keep moving.”

”And make 'you momma' jokes?”

Hancock opened his eyes to look at me. His face was puzzled.

”Is that a thing? I thought I was being original.”

I chuckled and kissed him again.

”I think we should check on Nick and see if he's found anything”, I straightened my back before Hancock could suggest that we should test the beds for any busted springs.

”Ya sure have taken a shine to the detective, haven't ya?”

”What?” I looked back down, where Hancock was eyeing me and grinning.

”Because I can tell he definitely has a thing for you.”

”You shouldn't joke about things like that”, I put my hands on my hips. ”But yeah, I like him a lot. He's a good guy and someone I feel like I can trust and ask for help. And I'm really glad that you have a friend like him.”

Hancock kept looking at me, but his grin had turned more into a smile.

”I didn't joke.”

I opened my mouth to question him more, but he pushed himself up, grabbed the tricorne and straightened his jacket.

”Come on, Sunshine. After finding Nicky we can see if we can get any hot food for ya.”

…

It didn't took us long to track down Nick, since he was still in the mess hall. As we went inside he was having a heated conversation with three other people. One of them was a middle-aged man, who looked like he had some Asian blood in him. The second one was a younger man, maybe in his twenties, and had a sleek hair. The third one was a girl who couldn't have been more than 18.

I stopped at the doorway and grabbed Hancock's sleeve. I didn't want to interrupt, and Hancock nodded after he had noticed the situation, too. It was better leaving this to Nick.

”...whatever he said, or what mom said. I'm not going back”, the young girl looked like she would've wanted stomp her feet. ”They would _never_ understand.”

She was beautiful, even when her face was distorted and flushed by anger. Her almost black curls looked like they rarely saw a comb and the dark hair framed perfectly her tiny, heart-shaped face.

”Have you even tried?” Nick sounded stern, but not angry. ”Do you have any idea how worried you've made them?”

”Of _course_ I do”, the girl wiped her eyes with anger. ”I miss them, too. But if they'd knew about Paul, they'd probably chain me in my room. I know what dad thinks about... the people like Paul.”

”Mary, maybe this was a mistake”, the young man touched the girl's arm, but she jerked away.

”You think this was a _mistake_? You _wanted_ me to leave with you, remember?”

”Kids”, the middle-aged man tried to calm them, ”I've been more than happy having you here, but I agree with Mr. Valentine here. Surely you can see trouble you're causing by running away from home?”

His words did resonate with her, at least for a little. Mary started crying and she leaned on the young man called Paul.

”Please, Mr. Valentine”, she sounded begging. ”You can't take me back there. I would never see Paul again. I love him, more than anything.”

There was a moment of silence, only interrupted by her teary hiccups.

”Mr. Valentine...” Paul addressed Nick carefully, still hugging Mary. ”Could you give us two... no, three days? To come up a plan on what to do? I don't want to lose her, but I've started to think that maybe it wasn't such a great idea to have her run away from home.”

”Paul!” Mary exclaimed. With her stuffed nose, it came out more like ”Baul”.

”You want me to go back, is that it? You don't love me anymore?”

”You know I do, Mary”, Paul looked her gently and combed her curls back with his fingers. ”But I don't want you to lose your only family. You have a mom and a dad. I never did. Shouldn't we at least think about it? If Mr. Valentine would just give us three days. That's all. I promise we will not run away again.”

Nick sighed and a thick line of smoke came out with his breath. He lifted the cigarette back to his mouth and from the corner of his eye he glanced at us.

”Three days”, Nick said slowly. ”After that I'm leaving back to Diamond City...”

He didn't finish his sentence, but he didn't have to. Everyone there knew he wouldn't leave empty-handed.

”Mr. Howard, it would be a great help if your guards could keep an eye for these kids and give me a shout if they look like trying to split.”

”We won't”, Paul promised and gave a light squeeze to Mary. ”Right?” 

Mary looked from Paul to Nick, then back again. Her shoulders slumped. Defeated, she nodded, but clutched to Paul even more desperately.

As Paul was murmuring something to Mary and Mr. Howard was also trying to comfort her, we approached Nick.

”So you found the missing kid”, Hancock crossed his arms. ”And we'll be stuck here for three days. I really hope they have someone dealing chems here…”

I noticed that Nick’s jaw looked tighter.

”Nick? Is everything okay?” 

Nick turned to look at me. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

”I'm fine. It turned out pretty much as I thought. Mary there had fallen in love with Paul, but he's a synth. They got some help from a friend and eloped, meaning to settle down somewere around Sanctuary Hills. It's a good ol' romance novel. Listen, I'm staying here, but you can get back to Goodneighbor. You've been a great deal of help and I’ll be sure to send out some caps for your trouble.”

I glanced John and saw that he was thinking the same thing as I did.

”Nicky, you're welcome to treat us with beer or Mentats, but if you as much as try to give us caps ‘for our trouble’, I'll shove 'em up your ass”, Hancock declared, grinning, but he was serious. 

”John's right. And of course we're staying here with you – you'll need us if Mary and her boyfriend do disappear again.”

Valentine stayed silent for a moment, then nodded and tapped his fedora.

”I appreciate it. To be honest, I feel sorry for the poor girl. I do know her old man and he doesn't care for me either, but it was her mother who hired me in the first place.”

The man called Mr. Howard cleared his throat behind Nick and apologized for interrupting.

”Mr. Valentine, I just wanted to say that you're doing the right thing. I have... had... a daughter, and Mary reminds me of her in so many ways. If my girl had run away from home, I'd been worried sick. They told me they were brother and sister and needed a place to rest, but if I'd known she was a runaway teen, I would've dragged her to Diamond City myself. I'll make sure they stay inside the premises of Sunshine Tidings and you and your friend are most welcome to stay.”

”Thank you, we already did rent a cabin from Ollie”, I said and Mr. Howard nodded.

”Yes, very good. You happen to be in for a treat, too; we're having a celebration tomorrow evening. It's the anniversary of the day the settlement was founded. We gather in here after the chores and have fun, and you're certainly invited.”

”A party? Well”, Hancock was suddenly more livelier. ”Ya know, I feel like it's not so bad hanging around here for a while after all.”

 


End file.
